( ) 20th Anniversary Edition

Remastered

Digital out now / Pre-order physical now

Sigur Rós’s third album, and for many the most quintessentially “Sigur Rós” record, celebrates its 20th anniversary on October 28, 2022. The album has been remastered by legendary mastering engineer Ted Jenson at Sterling Sound, who also mastered every Sigur Rós album from Takk onwards.

( ) is the only album where Jónsi sings entirely in the wordless lyrics of Hopelandic. A desire to elide meaning and allow the listener to bring their own interpretation to the music extends to each of the album’s eight songs, all of which are nameless. The record is broadly divided into two halves, divided by a critical 36 seconds of silence. The first half of the album is light and optimistic, the second half bleak and melancholic – culminating in the thundering climax of Untitled #8, the closing song of every Sigur Rós show since it was written in 2000.

To celebrate 20 years since it was first released, ( ) has been remastered.

We have created a signed, deluxe box set with a choice of white or black vinyl, limited to 2500 copies of each colour. The box will include the remastered album on 2 x heavyweight vinyl, an additional heavyweight vinyl of B-sides and rarities, and 10 pieces of artwork, all wrapped up in a rigid white linen case. With a certificate of authenticity signed by the band.

In the years leading up to the release of ( ), tracks from the album were performed live – debuted with no notice and no names. Word spread throughout the fan community about these new tracks, but in the days before social media and YouTube those new songs were shared through fan recordings – WAV files converted to SHN / FLAC, MD5 sums collated, text files written up with notes from those who sneaked their recording devices into a show.

This stream will randomly share some of those early recordings (1999 to 2003) of tracks from the album, some are good, some are muffled and have people talking in the background – but thats how it was back then to experience the new songs.

Thank you to those who recorded and shared recordings back in those days!